Congress: Rubio says immigration bill doesn't have 60 votes yet

Marco Rubio now says the immigration bill he helped author doesn’t have the votes to break a Senate filibuster. “No, and I think even the Democrats would concede that. There’s a few reasons for it, but one of the things we’ve learned over the last few weeks through the open process that happened through the committee process and all the public input that we’ve gotten is how little confidence people have that the federal government will enforce the law."

The full Senate begins consideration of the bill next week.

It’s the hormones? Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) is facing a backlash after saying about sexual assaults in the military yesterday: “Gee whiz, the hormone level created by nature sets in place the possibility for these types of things to occur.”

One Republican blasted Chambliss’ comments, saying they do “nothing to help change the culture of our military.” Said Rep. Michael Turner (R-OH): “It’s simple; criminals are responsible for sexual assaults, not hormones."

Still on abortion… “A House Judiciary subcommittee advanced legislation Tuesday that would prohibit U.S. abortions from being performed after 20 weeks of pregnancy,” The Hill writes. “The Subcommittee on the Constitution modified the legislation from its chairman, Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.), to apply nationwide. An original draft would only have implemented the ban in the District of Columbia.”

“The body of late Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) will be brought to Washington, D.C., on an Amtrak train that will depart from a station in New Jersey named after him,” The Hill writes. His body will lie in state Thursday and will be eulogized by Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ), and former Secretary of State and New York Sen. Hillary Clinton.

But Republicans are praising Issa’s approach. National Journal: “When Darrell Issa called Jay Carney a ‘paid liar’ this week, his critics figured he'd finally gone too far—that his one-step-ahead-of-the-facts rhetoric would force Republicans to rein him in. They figured wrong. For all the polite Washington handwringing over that single comment, the truth is this: Issa’s aggressive approach is just what the Republican House leadership wants. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor singled out Issa for praise at a closed-door GOP conference meeting on Tuesday. Hours later, Cantor gave him plaudits on national television, saying on CNN that Issa and other GOP chairmen investigating the IRS were doing ‘a fantastic job.’”